Placenta eaters?

[fyrebloom]

Anyone else eating placenta these days or planning to? I'm in absolute awe of how i'm feeling right now! I had a smootie yesterday (and as described, there is NO flavor) with a 2 inch diameter piece blended in and lots of fruit and soymilk and the next time I used the bathroom my lochia was almost completely gone (it was pretty heavy just an hour before!). This am my milk came in! I thought 2 days was good with my DS but it was like 30 hours after birth and he was chugging as he nursed at the pedi's office! Unbelievable! I feel great and i'm looking forward to how I feel later on. I had severe depression last time and mild depression the first time. Granted I got my drug free natural birth and pretty much EVERYTHING i hoped for with this birth which will help alot, but I'm also hopefully the placenta will make it even less likely for me to slip into depression again.

Anyone else eating theirs or encapsulating?

[TIFF4NY]

I've mentioned it to DH but I'm not sure if he's into the idea. Also, I don't know how many hurdles we'd have to jump with the hospital we're planning to birth at. It would definitely be different if we were planning a homebirth.

[BubbyBooty]

i have never heard of eating the placenta. what is that suppose to be about?

[kawa kamuri]

i planned to but i was so pretty i just couldn't. i've suffered through ppd in the past but having an awesome birth, easy baby and a wonderfully supportive partner have helped and i feel fine.

[fyrebloom]

TIFF4NY: There are court cases on record that you must be allowed to bring your placenta home. Just ask the hospital if you need to bring your own bags or cooler. My hospital just bundled it in some plastic bags and gave us some ice and we were all good. Just make sure they know not to send it away, many will send it to pathology for inspection. It's your placenta, you 100% rights to it!

BubbyBooty: Placentaphagy (sp?) is the act of eating the placenta after the birth. All animals do it but us and there is strong biological evidence that we should too. Some people cook it, some cut it up and make smooties (what I'm doing), some have it dehydrated and encapsulated. I decided to eat mine raw (I make smoothies with equal parts placenta and strawberries... ok more strawberries plus milk and OJ concentrate YUM, there is no taste or iron or blood or anything but the fruit) to maximize the nutritional benefits. Eating placenta helps quickly replace the nutrients in your body and stabilizes the hormones post partum. The hormone drop after birth can really cause problems with depression and whatnot so I'm hoping to avoid another round of antidepressants this time around. Also since your are injesting the placenta it's a strong message to your body that the baby IS indeed out and it's time to clamp down the womb preventing excessive bloodloss and signals to the breasts to start producing milk. It's awesome stuff, and so far for me it's been 100% positive!

kawa kamuri: I'll have to post pics of mine too. It was so tiny and beautiful. I never got to see my other placentas and I was so sad. It really is an amazing organ. Are you planning on planting it or anything? I thought of doing that if I couldn't handle eating it, but so far no probs.

[MamaAcorn]

I'm not, but one of good friends has a placenta encapsulating business. Most of my IRL friends do eat their placentas - all with great reviews!

[Serenyd]

I'm not sure I can eat mine. It sat out for a few hours and I don't know if it's good. Plus it was in my shower. Opps. I did cut a chunk out of the top of it and hold it in my cheek for bit when I was worried about bleeding. I ate it but I'm sure it wasn't enough to do anything. It's in my freezer in a ziploc until I figure out what to do w/ it.

[TIFF4NY]

fyrebloom: that's good to know! I'll have to talk to my husband about it.

[Maela]

I ate some of mine in a smoothie every day for the first week. I'm not sure if it made the difference or if it was the great birth I had this time compared to the last. But I am definitely feeling better than I was last time postpartum. And it tasted just fine, I wasn't grossed out at all.

[kawa kamuri]

Originally Posted by fyrebloom

I'll have to post pics of mine too. It was so tiny and beautiful. I never got to see my other placentas and I was so sad. It really is an amazing organ. Are you planning on planting it or anything? I thought of doing that if I couldn't handle eating it, but so far no probs.

I never saw any of my others either. Mine was big! I took pictures, did prints and it's now in the freezer for I don't know what. I live in an apartment, am kind of a bad plant mom so I don't know about planting. I just couldn't treat it like trash.

[TIFF4NY]

Dh has agreed to support me in asking for it. Is there a website or somewhere where I can find information on how to store and use the placenta? I'd like to be prepared so it doesn't go to waste. Anyone have any good smoothie recipes?

[TIFF4NY]

I just wanted to share a site I came across today:

http://placentabenefits.info/index.asp

It looks like it's got a lot of great information. And you can find people in your area that will encapsulate the placenta for you if you desire that.

[fyrebloom]

Serenyd: Should be ok I'd think. Mine was out for hours, til 5pm, although we did get a bag of ice to put on it to keep it cool. I think if it was out for as long as one might put out meat to defrost then it's safe to eat. Mal had passed Meconium in utero too so I just had to wash it really well to get any poop off it. You could also cook it to kill any bacteria.

kawa kamuri: Maybe see about planting a tree on it in your fav park, something that won't need alot of fuss? Ive got a black thumb as well so I'd worry about killing anything I try to grow but I think trees are pretty self sufficient. I'm a renter too, I decided rather then save the "trimmings" to just toss them. I just can't keep too much in our very tiny freezer.